I know the infrequence of updates has been frustrating this summer, and I apologize for that. It’s frustrating for me, too. Since the outlook for coming weeks isn’t so hot, either, I at least am going to try to restore a bit of order around here. I usually, although not always, update on Tuesday, because Mondays are almost always impossible. So, the week begins around here on Tuesday, and lately it sometimes ends there. I will redouble my effort to be here on Tuesday, and through late September I will try equally hard to update regularly on Thursday. There may be other days. I hope so, but for the remainder of summer I will plan for regular updates here on Tuesday and Thursday. After that, we’ll see if we can’t make things more interesting. Thank you for your forbearance!

29 Responses to “Silver-Tongue Devil”

My wife and I will be traveling to Missouri to watch the eclipse. Hoping for clear weather! I’m building a solar projector for an old Meade ETX-80 that should keep us safe. I tried to find clip-on solar viewing glasses, but quality was low and prices were high. I will probably grab a couple of paper-framed lenses just for an occasional peek. Even those can be unsafe, though. I’ve read that there are counterfeits being sold with fake ISO labels. Caveat emptor…

Here’s a link about the solar projector. If it works well I may start watching sunspots, too. Still waiting for the rear-projection cloth to arrive so I can finish it.

Jimmy it sounds like Gene could not use you in his restaurant. lol. No worries. I just wish you could set the timing for 2-3 weeks instead of one so on those busy weeks, you do not have to worry about checking in. We DO appreciate the website very much.

David in Austin: I’m going for simplicity and selfishness. My little tabletop reflector wouldn’t be a good choice for that funnel, so I’m proceeding with a filter over its collector. My wife and I will just take turns viewing the sun through it.

Also, we’ve tested the free and nearly-free solar glasses we picked up at the local college planetariums over the past few years. No problems there. As for anyone ordering them online, I suggest that they stick with the companies that have been selling telescopes for years.

TR– the fact that the ETX-80 is a fairly wide-angle view refractor is why I though to try it. No plastic in the light path. There’s a problem with the tracking motor, so it is otherwise useless. It failed out of warranty, and Meade said they never stocked parts. When one failed under warranty they just replaced it.

Meade did offer an exchange for a newer model (available to anyone with an ETX-80), the new ETX-80 Observer. It is $240 including shipping. That’s a little better than the Amazon price of $299 with “free” shipping.

I probably won’t bite. If I decide I want a working telescope I’ll look a little harder for something that has replaceable parts.

There are only 3 approved companies that make disposable solar glasses according to NASA. We bought a bunch directly from one of the companies just about the time they were getting too swamped to get them out on time. Ours are here and waiting. Where we are is only a couple degrees off of full solar eclipse so no travel for us. Hopkinsville, KY is bang on, but are sold out of rooms at all hotels, has been for a long time now. All the way out to about a two hour drive they are sold out, even the roach ranches are sold out. I am so looking forward to this once in a lifetime event.

Glen Campbell passed today after battling Alzheimer’s. What a great musician and entertainer. Witcita Lineman and Galveston are just about perfect songs. Not many people know that Glen was also toured as a member of the Beach Boys on their early days.

I have an easy-to-remember password that a password strength meter says would take a password-cracker algorithm like a trillion years to discover. I use it as the master password for my 1Password program, and due to its strength, I have no qualms about using it to protect other sensitive information. But programs that require frequent changes of their passwords have never favorably impressed me.

I’m required to change my password every 90 days both at my volunteer position at the state hospital and at my part-time job at the technical college. I’ve known for some time that changing it doesn’t do much to protect the accounts and also encourages bad behavior from those doing it. We homo sapiens are inherently lazy and stubborn.

I know there are some tools to help us get by with a master password which then enters the site-specific passwords for us… but what happens if such a service gets hacked?

I liked Glen’s “By the Time I get to Phoenix” as well. He id a cover of “Yesterday When I was Young” that I watched last night that was really poignant. Seeing a youthful Campbell with a very eventful life ahead of him was a bit sad. Oh yes, him playing the William Tell Overture on the electric guitar as outstanding.

I’m reading Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett and came across this, which I just posted for my still-teaching friends on Facebook:

“I used to be a school teacher …But I decided to give it up and make a living by the sword.”
“After being a school teacher all your life?”
“It did mean a change of perspective, yes.”
“But …well … surely …the privation, the terrible hazards, the daily risk of death …”
Mr. Saveloy brightened up. “Oh, you’ve been a teacher, have you?”

[In the last sentence "been" should be in italics but neither FB nor this site lets me do that.]

Hi everyone. I have been catching up on the comments. For the last week and a half I’ve been in Michigan visiting family and going to my class reunion. I left my tablet at home. I got to see three of my four sisters and one of my brothers. I also got to spend time with my stepmom.
On August 5, I went to my 50th high school class reunion.I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Of course, I didn’t recognizevery many of the alumni. I hadn’t seen them in 50 years.
The reunion dinner washed in a renovated barn. It has been set up to host parties, wedding receptions, etc. It is really quite lovely. I grew up in a farming area, so I’m really happy to see an old barn repurposed rather than torn down.
I see I have a crazy typo in my text. I meant the reunion dinner was held…. I need to check a little closer.
I’m glad everyone is in good spirits. Jackie, I’m thinking good thoughts and sending prayers.
I’m looking forward to thesolar eclipse. I would like to see full totality, but I’ll settle for what I can see. When I talked to my sister, Irene, she remembered looking at a solar eclipse in a puddle reflection. I thought that was pretty neat. I don’t know how safe it is to do that.

Safe? Not really. Watch it online. You can also get the pinhole/cardboard tube effect just by looking at the sidewalk dappled sunlight that comes through a leafy tree. All the usual circles will be crescents.

Trying to adjust to this new time of getting up and driving Ian to work. He has a job at a hog farm, he likes it better than the food industry. He has to be there at 5 and I pick him up when he calls. Tell you more later….gotta go.